Subscribe to the
CA eNewsletter

CA News

Criminal Justice Reforms = Cost Savings for State

December 2008

The Correctional Association recently released a brief cost savings analysis, Reform Criminal Justice Policies, Cut Government Costs, recommending reforms that would improve our justice system and save our fiscally strapped state over $450 million annually.

Recommendations outlined in this analysis include:

  • Closing underutilized prisons,
  • Repealing the Rockefeller Drug Laws,
  • Increasing work release eligibility and participation; and
  • Diverting technical parole violators from prison.

These and other measures can make the criminal justice system more fair and efficient, while increasing public safety and reducing exorbitant costs to the state.

Governor David Paterson announced some sensible proposals in his 2009-10 Executive Budget, such as closing four underutilized adult prisons and eight juvenile facilities—long overdue steps aimed at rightsizing New York’s prison system.

However, Governor Paterson missed the opportunity to propose several key cost-saving criminal justice reforms—in particular, the repeal of the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws, which on its own would save New York over $280 million annually. The State’s dire fiscal troubles provide the political cover to overhaul these mandatory sentencing polices, reforms which the governor himself has long advocated.

In the coming legislative session, the Correctional Association will advocate for a state budget that protects the most vulnerable among us and leads to a more humane, efficient and balanced system of justice.

News Coverage

Robert Gangi, Executive Director of the Correctional Association, has carried this message forward with several radio interviews on WNYC, two of which are archived here: